Charlotte looked puzzled. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It means you’re fearless.”
She seemed to ponder that as she absently plucked a piece of straw off her sleeve. “That’s nice, too, I suppose.”
They both fell silent as a pair of songbirds flitted in the branches of the oak tree above, warbling a cheerful song.
“Why aren’t you out playing or riding with the others?” he finally asked.
“The Campbell boys, you mean? Because they’re boring.”
“You’ve been knocking about with them since you got here, though.”
“It’s better than being cooped up inside that gloomy castle. I’d rather be out in the rain than have to listen to Mamma scold all day.”
Kade grinned. “She does scold a lot, doesn’t she?”
She comically crossed her eyes. “Rather. Which is also boring.”
“I’m quite boring, too, Charlotte. All I do is sit and read books, and you like to . . .” He waved a vague hand. “Do things.”
“Please call me Charlie. Everyone else does. Except for Mamma and Melissa, my little sister.”
He tilted his head to study her. “I heard some of the boys call you Charlie. I thought it was a joke.”
“My father started calling me that long ago, and it just stuck. He wanted a boy but got me instead.”
Kade frowned. “That’s odd. You do have a brother, don’t you?”
“Johnny didn’t come along for several years after me and Melissa. Anyway, the name doesn’t bother me, since I don’t much like girl things. It’s more fun to be with Papa. He even lets me go with him when he visits his tenant farmers and such. And I like spending time in the stables, learning everything I can about horses. They’re fun.”
“The Campbell boys seem like more fun than me,” he carefully said.
She emphatically shook her head. “No, they’re very dull compared to you. You’re smart and you’re nice. I’m not sure that Richard and Andrew are really very nice.”
Kade felt a warm glow in the center of his chest. Not that her praise really mattered, of course. Once the gathering was over, he had no idea when he might see her again. But if only for a few days it was nice to have a friend, someone other than one of his brothers or the Kinglas servants, who watched over him with an eagle eye.
Charlotte wasn’t the sort to make a fuss, and he found that refreshing.
Kade smiled at her. “Thank you. And I agree that Andrew Campbell doesn’t seem very nice.” Andrew was the oldest brother. “Richard seems all right, though.”
She shrugged. “I suppose. But he’s . . .”
“Boring?”
Charlie flashed a smirk and then leaned over and tapped the open pages of his book. “What are you reading?”
“It’s a history about opera. I found it in the duke’s library, and he was kind enough to let me borrow it. It’s a bit dry, I’m afraid. I’m not sure you’d find it very interesting.”
He had found it so interesting that he’d stayed up half the night reading it. But he doubted Charlie would be able to sit quietly to discuss the differences between Handel and Gluck. She was so restless and full of energy that Kade could almost imagine lightning shooting from her fingertips.
She twisted sideways to face him, and her chestnut brown eyes fastened earnestly on his face. The first time he’d met Charlie, he’d been struck by the color of her eyes because they were such an unexpected contrast with her golden hair.
“I think I would, though,” she replied. “I love music, but I really only know the old Highland reels and jigs. Mamma never plays anymore—she says married ladies never do—and Melissa wants to learn the harp.” She rolled her eyes. “I think the harp is stupid. Only girls want to play the harp, because then boys will think they’re like angels or something dumb like that. But it’s not nearly as nice as the piano or the fiddle, if you ask me.”
He smiled at her artless chatter. “I have to agree with you, because I play both the piano and the violin.”
“I know. I heard you playing the fiddle in the east drawing room the other day. You’re so good. I wish I could play something that well.” She screwed up her mouth for a moment, as if pondering. “Yes, the fiddle. I’d quite like to play that.”
